A Cross-National Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory

Helge Molde¹, Inger Hilde Nordhus^{1

2}, Torbjørn Torsheim³, Knut Engedal⁴, Anette Bakkane Bendixen⁴, Gerard J Byrne⁵, María Márquez-González⁶, Andres Losada⁷, Lei Feng⁸, Elisabeth Kuan Tai Ow⁸, Kullaya Pisitsungkagarn⁹, Nattasuda Taephant⁹, Somboon Jarukasemthawee⁹, Alexandra Champagne¹⁰, Philippe Landreville¹⁰, Patrick Gosselin¹¹, Oscar Ribeiro¹², Gretchen J Diefenbach¹³, Karen Blank¹³, Sherry A Beaudreau¹⁴, Jerson Laks¹⁵, Narahyana Bom de Araújo¹⁵, Rochele Paz Fonseca¹⁶, Renata Kochhann¹⁶, Analuiza Camozzato¹⁷, Rob H S van den Brink¹⁸, Mario Fluiter¹⁹, Paul Naarding²⁰, Loeki P R M Pelzers²¹, Astrid Lugtenburg²², Richard C Oude Voshaar¹⁸, Nancy A Pachana²³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway.
² Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway and Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Aging and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Toensberg, Norway.
⁵ School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ Biological and Health Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Clinical Psychology Area, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
⁸ Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁹ Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
¹⁰ School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
¹² Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Department of Education and Psychology, Aveiro University, Portugal.
¹³ Anxiety Disorders Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut.
¹⁴ Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University of Medicine, Palo Alto, California.
¹⁵ Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹⁶ Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil.
¹⁷ Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre UFCSPA, Brazil.
¹⁸ Rob Giel Research center (RGOc), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Mental Health Center GGZ Noord-Holland Noord, Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands.
²⁰ GGNet Mental Health, Division of Old Age Psychiatry, Warnsveld & Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
²¹ Mental Health Center GGZ Centraal, Ermelo, The Netherlands.
²² Mental Health Center GGZ Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands.
²³ School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PMID: 30624724
PMCID: PMC7424278
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbz002

A Cross-National Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory

Helge Molde et al. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020.

. 2020 Aug 13;75(7):1475-1483.

doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbz002.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway.
² Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway and Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Aging and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Toensberg, Norway.
⁵ School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ Biological and Health Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Clinical Psychology Area, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
⁸ Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁹ Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
¹⁰ School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
¹² Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Department of Education and Psychology, Aveiro University, Portugal.
¹³ Anxiety Disorders Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut.
¹⁴ Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University of Medicine, Palo Alto, California.
¹⁵ Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹⁶ Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil.
¹⁷ Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre UFCSPA, Brazil.
¹⁸ Rob Giel Research center (RGOc), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Mental Health Center GGZ Noord-Holland Noord, Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands.
²⁰ GGNet Mental Health, Division of Old Age Psychiatry, Warnsveld & Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
²¹ Mental Health Center GGZ Centraal, Ermelo, The Netherlands.
²² Mental Health Center GGZ Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands.
²³ School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PMID: 30624724
PMCID: PMC7424278
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbz002

Abstract

Objectives: Assessing late-life anxiety using an instrument with sound psychometric properties including cross-cultural invariance is essential for cross-national aging research and clinical assessment. To date, no cross-national research studies have examined the psychometric properties of the frequently used Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in depth.

Method: Using data from 3,731 older adults from 10 national samples (Australia, Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, and United States), this study used bifactor modeling to analyze the dimensionality of the GAI. We evaluated the "fitness" of individual items based on the explained common variance for each item across all nations. In addition, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was applied, testing for measurement invariance across the samples.

Results: Across samples, the presence of a strong G factor provides support that a general factor is of primary importance, rather than subfactors. That is, the data support a primarily unidimensional representation of the GAI, still acknowledging the presence of multidimensional factors. A GAI score in one of the countries would be directly comparable to a GAI score in any of the other countries tested, perhaps with the exception of Singapore.

Discussion: Although several items demonstrated relatively weak common variance with the general factor, the unidimensional structure remained strong even with these items retained. Thus, it is recommended that the GAI be administered using all items.

Keywords: bifactor; invariance; measurement; multigroup; unidimensional.

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References

1. Bendixen A. B Hartberg C. B Selbæk G. & Engedal K (2016) . Symptoms of anxiety in older adults with depression, dementia, or psychosis: A principal component analysis of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 42, 310–322doi: 10.1159/000452272 - PubMed
1. Byrne G. J. (2014). Validation of the informant questionnaire for anxiety in dementia in a memory clinic cohort. International Psychogeriatrics, 25 (Suppl. 1), S26.
1. Byrne G. J., & Pachana N. A (2011). Development and validation of a short form of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory–the GAI-SF. International Psychogeriatrics, 23, 125–131. doi:10.1017/S1041610210001237 - PubMed
1. Byrne G. J., Pachana N. A., Nur F., Kua E.-H., Mahenran R., Jiang M.-J., & Feng L (2016). Observations on the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in a large Singaporean cohort. International Journal of Psychology, 51 (Suppl. 1), 37.
1. Byrne B. M., & van de Vijver F. J. R (2010). Testing for measurement and structural equivalence in large-scale cross-cultural studies: Addressing the issue of nonequivalence. International Journal of Testing, 10, 107–132. doi:10.1080/15305051003637306

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A Cross-National Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory

Affiliations

A Cross-National Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical